Silver, porcelain and ruby glass seem unlikely bedfellows, yet the objects in the Zilkha Collection are all united by the medium of silver or luxury metalwork. The objects were also made, for the most part, over about a century and a half. All of them tell a fascinating story of the particular circumstances that produced them: a maker, a workshop, a patron. They also tell the wider story of the society that made them necessary or desirable; the science that made them possible; and of their survival down the centuries. Therefore their appeal is more than just aesthetic, and their design and decoration often speak of the intellectual or religious climate of their time. Some objects incorporate exotic materials such as Indian mother of pearl that reflect the developing world trade; others encapsulate emerging technologies such as the making of ruby glass or porcelain.